12 Remain at J-Bay Open

Rounds 3 and 4 of the J-Bay Open were not kind to top seeds. With Joel Parkinson being the only current Top 10 surfer to already have secured a Quarterfinal berth, upsets ruled the day. Perennial J-Bay favorites Kelly Slater and Jordy Smith fell in Round 3 to Matt Wilkinson and C.J. Hobgood, respectively. Riding off the momentum of his near-perfect heat against Slater (video below), Wilkinson went on to earn a spot in the Quarters for his first time this year after defeating Kolohe Andino and Adriano de Souza in Round 4. It’s worth nothing that Kelly Slater’s 15.37 losing heat score would have won all but two of the other Round 3 heats. In the final heat of Round 3, Alejo Muniz, who has had a difficult 2014 season thus far, defeated world title contender Michel Bourez, opening the door for Gabriel Medina to extend his ratings lead.

When competition resumes, possibly this evening, a champion will likely be crowned, as only 11 heats remain. Although all the upcoming heats present exciting match-ups, it’s the second and third heats of Round 5 that will impact the world title race the most. Current No. 4 Taj Burrow faces Kolohe Andino in a heat that could see continued dominance by the young guard. Following that, Gabriel Medina needs to defeat C.J. Hobgood in order to solidify his current No. 1 spot.